 Although the word "nomad" in the dictionary has a meaning of
"wanderer," these NOMADS are far from just RV enthusiasts driving
around the country. The name stands for "Nomads On a Mission Active
in Divine Service." What this group of nomads does is travel
throughout the U.S. as well as Mexico, helping on projects for
groups or agencies that need assistance but who cannot afford the
costs of professional labor.NOMADS began in 1988 in the Rio
Grande Valley of Texas. Methodists from Illinois, Iowa and Indiana
were winter Texans, and someone finally said, "I am bored. There
must be some good we can do here." So they approached local
Methodist churches and offered their services. That first year there
were 24 members who completed five projects in Texas and Oklahoma.
NOMADS grew as an all-volunteer organization under the North
Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. Membership
increased and in 2001 NOMADS incorporated and became an organization
under the General Board of Global Ministries. The group also
contracted a full-time program administrator and started offering
summer and fall projects in addition to winter and spring projects.
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, NOMADS began doing disaster
recovery work in Mississippi.
Currently, the organization offers about 150 projects each year
and has over 1,000 members. Participants on regular projects and
drop-ins donated a total of 102,000 hours of volunteer labor in
2009.
Five disaster response projects have been offered over the past
year in Mississippi, Texas, Indiana and Iowa with a total of 10,600
hours of donated labor.
Most projects are three weeks in length. These projects have an
assigned leader, and everyone on the team is there for three
weeks. Teams on these projects are typically working at churches,
children's homes, camping and retreat centers, or colleges, and
RV parking is usually at the work site. With everyone working at the
same site, team activities are more structured. The team works six
hours a day for four days and then has a three-day weekend to visit
the area where they are serving.
Most of the members are United Methodists, but the membership
represents a variety of Christian denominations.
Many of the NOMADS meeting in Lincoln were available to talk
about their travels after their lunch at the Knights of Columbus
pavilion.
Delmar and Cheryl Smith were sitting with friends they had met on
one of their projects. Being from different parts of the state means
this get-together is the first time some have seen each other since
the previous year.
When Delmar and Cheryl were asked if they had a specialty, such
as painting, they both laughed. Cheryl said last year they ended up
learning how to stucco a building they thought they only needed to
paint.
They both said they enjoyed a project they did in Georgia a few
years ago. The women cooked their meals for them and those were
wonderful. "But you can't get any unsweetened ice tea down there.
They sweeten everything," Cheryl laughed.
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Charlotte Tincher, who was at the table, recently joined NOMADS
and said she was retired, "so why not help someone?"
Ken and Dorothy Wildemuth, from Annawan, just finished their 21st
year of working on projects with NOMADS. Ken said he had read a
story about the group in their church bulletin and thought, "Maybe
this is something we can do." The couple has worked on projects in
13 different states, spanning the U.S with trips to California and
New York. Ken remarked that when they had joined, there were maybe
65 or 70 members, not the current 1,000-plus.
George Russell thinks the organization's website has helped
expand membership. "When it first went online, we were getting
inquiries and people were joining every day, it seemed."
George, a retired Methodist minister, and his wife, Rubye
(correct spelling), have been involved since 1998, and although they
too have many recollections on projects, one that stands out for
them is helping drywall a church in Chugiak, Alaska.
"When the church people saw all us old people pulling up in RVs,
it was like, "What can they do? But by the time we left, they had a
cake for us. They couldn't believe how much we got done," said
George.
Both the Russells and everyone else interviewed had a central
feeling about their volunteer work that was summed up by Rubye: "We
have met wonderful people, both at the projects we were assigned as
well as the NOMADS we worked with. We get more out of this than we
give."
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Mission statement of NOMADS: Rebuilding lives, homes and
facilities with God's love and our hands.
Online:
http://www.nomadsumc.org/
[Text from file received and
Mike Fak]
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